Funny that you aks! I have just played the main riff at our last gig, but it was meant to be a joke for the audience....
So yes, I can play that song, not only the main riff.
Just checking...
Seems like it's forbidden to play this tune for some reason. People say it's overdone and overplayed, yet I've seldom encountered a band who had Smoke On The Water on their play list.
I guess it's the tune a lot of young players learn first, or so I hear. It sure was one of the first riffs I ever learned at the tender age of 13.
So, can YOU play it?
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Funny that you aks! I have just played the main riff at our last gig, but it was meant to be a joke for the audience....
So yes, I can play that song, not only the main riff.
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Oscar Wilde once said that a gentleman was "one who can play the bagpipes, but doesn't". Thus, as far as Smoke on the Water is concerned I am a perfect gentleman
Electric: Fat strat > Korg PB > TS7 > DS1 > DD-20 > Cube 60 (Fender model)
Acoustic: Guitar > microphone > audience
I would much rather hear "Smoke on the water" played on guitar than "Flight of the bumblebee" played on accordian!
(I can play it, but haven't for yrs.)
Guitars
Wilburn Versatare, '52 FrankenTele(Fender licensed parts), Fender USA Roadhouse Strat, Fender USA Standard B-bender Telecaster, Agile AL 3000 w/ WCR pickups, Ibanez MIJ V300 Acoustic, Squier Precision Bass,
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Pedals
Digitech Bad Monkey, Digitech Jamman, DVM's ZYS, Goodrich volume pedal
Yep.....count me in...can play it...but don't......kinda like Stairway to Heaven.
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Nope. Well, the opening riff, but I never bothered learning it. Not one of their better songs.
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70's flash back!
I was witness to the exact same phenomenon over and over:
Dude walks in to a room and sees a guitar, usually an acoustic, and picks it up immediately strumming (usually poorly) the power chords to "Smoke On The Water".
It is like a running joke.
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Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Short Scale
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I can, but I don't...unless I'm feeling particularly sardonic.
I agree that just like Stairway to Heaven it's been done ad nauseum. Not on many bands playlists today, but it seemed to be on everyone's back in the 70's.
It's hard to remember back to a time when the song hadn't been played to death, but it used to be a good song.
Ah, nothing relieves the discomfort of GAS pains like the sound of the UPS truck rumbling down your street. It's like the musician's Beano.
A couple of years ago I learned the rest of the rhythm part and began working at the solo but never got any further than that. It was all prompted by my kids hearing the song for the first time and they really liked it. I didn't hear that song growing up anywhere near as much as I heard "Stairway." It probably is a testament to how influential those songs are that they have been played ad nauseam.
Axen: Jackson DK2M, Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster, Reverend Warhawk 390, Taylor 914ce, ESP LTD Surveyor-414
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"I wish Imagine Dragons would be stuck in an Arcade Fire for an entire Vampire Weekend."--Brian Posehn
Learned the opening riff, but never learned the whole song. Ritchie Blackmore did say that the opening riff is to be played soley with the fingers.
It's not on any setlists these days because the song has been overplayed. Seriously overplayed.
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Ibanez RG 570 with a bridge Invader
ESP M II Deluxe with a Tune-o-Matic bridge
Eleanor, the magical, mystical Road Worn wonder Tele
Blackstar HT Club 40
I just played it this morning.
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Yes. We had this in our set list for some time many years ago. I know it all the way through and can even toss it into a medely. It's become like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for me. Just one of those songs that stick around.
Last edited by Spudman; June 9th, 2010 at 01:11 PM.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Sure can, but dont. I actually taught the riff to a young 'un recently. Everytime I've heard it live, it was just the main riff meant as a joke. Even Metallica joked about it (somewhere on youtube).
“Your sound is in your hands as much as anything. It’s the way you pick, and the way you hold the guitar, more than it is the amp or the guitar you use.” Stevie Ray Vaughan
I learned the bass parts for smoke on the water - it's NOT easy lol!
I know the main riff in a couple of different ways of playing it, but have not done so in a while.
Steve Thompson
Sun Valley, Idaho
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love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. . .
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We spent a couple days visiting some friends a few years ago and they had Guitar Hero. The kids played that song until I was sick of it! When we started learning real guitar last year, someone showed my 13 year old how to play the opening riff only using the low E string. He refuses to learn it the right way.
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I stumbled on to it a sometime ago while trying to figure out something else. It is forever etched in my mind. Grad 1971.
I have the riff down like several others but like Stairway to Heaven , I CAN'T PLAY THE ENTIRE SONG, as I have found with a lot of people. I do like both songs as they are classic material.
Street I'm with ya man I know the riffs but not the hole songs.Sumi
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